Boycott of Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival gains momentum with new cancellations

Four more filmmakers have joined a growing number of artists boycotting the Tel Aviv LGBT International Film Festival (TLVFest), in response to a Palestinian call.

Five artists had already cancelled their participation prior to the start of the festival, which runs between May 31 and June 9. With the latest cancellations, from two French directors and two from the Spanish state, a total of nine artists and filmmakers have boycotted the festival this year.

Despite the cancelations, TLVFest has refused to remove the filmmakers’ films from the festival’s schedule. In a statement to an Israeli daily, the festival director Yair Hochner said, “Whoever canceled, canceled. As far as we are concerned the festival will continue normally.”

French directors Océane Michel and Cyprien Vial had two scheduled screenings of their comedy film, “Embrasse-moi!”. Océane, who also makes his acting debut in the movie,posted on Facebook:

I wrote to the Festival two days ago but my message seems not to have been understood as my movie is still listed on the program.

I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and express my total disagreement with Israel’s policy towards Palestine. For this reason, I refuse to take part in the pinkwashing strategy of the Israeli government. I want my movie withdrawn from the festival.

I apologise to the audience of the festival because civilians are equally victims of their government. I make an absolute distinction between Israeli citizens and their government, but violence against Palestinians, including LGBT people, by the army and the state forces me to withdraw from the program.

Director Fabia Castro announced her support for the cultural boycott of Israel in addition to withdrawing her short, “Tres”:

After learning about the very serious situation of oppression Palestinians live under, a regime of colonialism and apartheid, I refuse to let my art be used to whitewash Israel’s image. … I reject attempts by Israel to use the rights and struggles of LGBTQ+ people to normalize their image….

… Today, I add my voice to dozens of artists who, in the last few weeks, have joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for the rights of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian queers feel inspired by this wave of international solidarity at a time when world governments continue to fuel Israel’s impunity and war crimes. The scale of cancellations for the second year in a row are yet another sign of how Israel’s pinkwashing strategy is failing.

There is a greater awareness worldwide about how Israel uses LGBTQ rights to justify its violent policies. Moreover, TLVFest’s management has shown its true face by declining to honor the requests from the directors to remove their work from the Festival’s program, they should do so now.

Hind Awwad, from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), commented:

We have noticed that many of the directors that were approached were not aware that their movies were scheduled to be shown at TLVFest. This is due to contractual arrangements with distributors who place the movies in international festivals without necessarily checking with filmmakers. Distributors should respect the wishes of directors who support the cultural boycott of Israel. The tide is changing for the support of Palestinian rights in the art world. The industry should reflect these changes.

About Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was initiated in 2004 to contribute to the struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality. PACBI advocates for the boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, given their deep and persistent complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law. Visit PACBI’s website and follow us on Twitter @PACBI

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4 Responses

“Despite the cancelations, TLVFest has refused to remove the filmmakers’ films from the festival’s schedule. In a statement to an Israeli daily, the festival director Yair Hochner said, “Whoever canceled, canceled. As far as we are concerned the festival will continue normally.””

Denial is their default position… I am sure they can’t believe what just hit them, and more importantly, WHY it happened. I hope that they get the message that this is about much more than them.

In what seems to be a pattern, the izraelis involved refuse to surrender to reality (for example, the so-called genesis prize to natalie portman) Who are they trying to kid besides themselves? They’re like the mean girls and boys in jr. high/high school, who lost their perch on the top rung of the who’s the most cool/hip in school. In order to try to redeem themselves, instead of changing their ways, they throw a party and insist that the newest cool/hip classmates are coming to their party even though they’ve been assured over and over that no fucking way are the new kings/queens of cool going to ever come to one of their parties, ever. Funny!

Speaking of boycotts, the print edition of the Houston Chronicle has a rare front page story about the topic today, under the headline: “No boycott rule, free speech clash in Texas.” The subhead says “Foes say state law to support Israel flies in face of First Amendment on campuses.” It describes how a speaker (in the Spanish creative writing program) at the University of Houston was surprised to learn that in order to receive payment for her appearance she would need to sign a pledge not to boycott Israel.

The article appeared online a few days ago, but behind a paywall. Even if the law is eventually declared unconstitutional, it shows how firmly the pro-Zionist forces are in control of the political narrative. Texas is one of the states where the Christian Zionists may be as important to politicians as the Jewish Zionists. Certainly, when it comes to the ballot box, there are more Christians. (Example, John Hagee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hagee

The news story isn’t bad, but it is only at the end–with a passing reference Palestinians–that there is any hint why (apart from Jew Hatred) someone might want to boycott Israel. For people at this site, such explanation would be superfluous, but unfortunately that isn’t true for many people in Texas.

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